LOCATION LITTLEKALUSUKCREEK AK
Established Series
SAS/MPS
04/2026
LITTLEKALUSUKCREEK SERIES
Depth class: deep to lithic bedrock
Drainage class: poorly drained
Parent material: organic material over loamy slope alluvium over residuum weathered from graywacke
Landscape: hills
Landform: ridges
Slope: 0 to 8 percent
Mean annual precipitation: about 400 mm (16 in)
Mean annual air temperature: about -4 degrees C. (25 degrees F.)
Frost-free period: 70 to 85 days
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, nonacid Histic Cryaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Littlekalusukcreek silt loam in a mixed white and black spruce open forest community on a summit with less than 1 percent slope at an elevation of 248m (815 ft).
Oe--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in); mucky peat; black (10YR 2/1) broken face moist, dark gray (10YR 4/1) broken face dry; many very fine and few fine roots throughout; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt smooth boundary. (20 to 25 cm, 8 to 10 in thick)
Bg--20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in); silt loam; dark gray (5Y 4/1) broken face moist, gray (5Y 6/1) broken face dry; weak medium platy parts to moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly hard, slightly sticky, moderately plastic; nonsmeary; common very fine and few fine roots throughout; common very fine irregular and fine tubular pores; 10 percent medium prominent irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron with clear boundaries in matrix; 5 percent gravel; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 20 cm, 2 to 8 in thick)
Bkg--30 to 85 cm (12 to 34 in); loam; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) broken face moist, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) broken face dry; weak coarse granular structure; firm, moderately hard, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; nonsmeary; few fine roots throughout; common very fine irregular pores; 5 percent medium prominent irregular strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron with clear boundaries in matrix; finely disseminated carbonate in matrix; 10 percent gravel; strong effervescence; slightly alkaline (pH 7.7); clear smooth boundary. (30 to 65 cm, 12 to 26 in thick)
Bg'--85 to 124 cm (34 to 49 in); sandy loam; olive (5Y 4/3) broken face moist, pale olive (5Y 6/3) broken face dry; weak coarse granular structure; firm, moderately hard, nonsticky, slightly plastic; nonsmeary; few very fine irregular and fine tubular pores; 5 percent fine prominent irregular strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron with clear boundaries in matrix and 15 percent medium prominent irregular dark gray (10YR 4/1) masses of reduced iron with clear boundaries in matrix; 10 percent gravel; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.7); very abrupt smooth boundary. (35 to 50 cm, 14 to 20 in thick)
2R--124 to 149 cm (49 to 59 in); indurated graywacke bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Nulato Hills - Continental Divide and Blackburn Hills Soil Survey Area, Alaska; Latitude 65.5732230 and Longitude -159.8998500; UTM North 7272638.48 and UTM East 458478.67; zone 4, datum WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture regime: aquic
Soil temperature regime: cryic
Mean annual soil temperature: 0 to 2.5 degrees C. (31 to 37 degrees F.)
Thickness of histic epipedon: 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 in)
Thickness of calcic horizon: 30 to 65 cm (12 to 26 in)
Thickness of cambic horizon: 35 to 50 cm (14 to 20 in)
Depth to free carbonates: 23 to 45 cm (9 to 18 in)
Depth to redoximorphic concentrations: 18 to 25 cm (7 to 10 in)
Depth to reduced matrix: 18 to 25 cm (7 to 10 in)
Depth to lithic contact: 100 to 150 cm (39 to 59 in)
Oe horizon:
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 2 or 2.5 moist, 4 dry
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: mucky peat
Organic matter: 60 to 90 percent
Reaction class: slightly acid to slightly alkaline (pH 6.1 to 7.8)
Bg horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: silt loam, loam
Sand: 0 to 52 percent
Silt: 28 to 88 percent
Clay: 10 to 22 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 14 percent
Organic matter: 0.5 to 2 percent
Reaction class: neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 6.6 to 7.8)
Bkg horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: loam
Sand: 23 to 52 percent
Silt: 28 to 50 percent
Clay: 18 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 14 percent
Organic matter: 0.5 to 2 percent
CaCO3: 15 to 45 percent
Reaction class: neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 6.6 to 7.8)
Bg' horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: sandy loam
Sand: 52 to 75 percent
Silt: 5 to 32 percent
Clay: 16 to 20 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 14 percent
Organic matter: 0.5 to 2 percent
Reaction class: neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 6.6 to 7.8)
2R horizon:
Strongly coherent to indurated graywacke bedrock.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Spasski (AK) series.
Spasski soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), lack a calcic horizon, have mean annual precipitation range of 1524 to 5588 mm (60 to 220 in)
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation: 175 to 400 meters (574 to 1312 feet)
Parent material: organic material over loamy slope alluvium over residuum weathered from graywacke
Landform: ridges
Slope: 0 to 8 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 300 to 500 mm (12 to 20 in)
Mean annual air temperature: -6 to -2 degrees C. (21 to 28 degrees F.)
Frost free period: 70 to 85 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Amigak,
Igniq,
Kikku,
Quammaqik,
Talikridge,
Tikigak,
Uluun,
Ungalik,
Urgiilik, and
Uvluutit soils.
Amigak soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), have cryoturbation, lack a calcic horizon, lack free carbonates, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on backslopes and footslopes
Igniq soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), have aquic conditions starting within 25 to 50 cm (10 to 20 in), have a folistic epipedon, have cryoturbation, lack a calcic horizon, lack a cambic horizon, lack free carbonates, have a coarse-loamy particle size class, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on backslopes and footslopes
Kikku soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), have occasional, brief ponding, lack a calcic horizon, lack a cambic horizon, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on shoulders and mountainflanks, upper third
Quammaqik soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), have frequent, long ponding, have a mollic epipedon, lack a cambic horizon, have a coarse-loamy particle size class, have a calcareous class, and occur on fens
Talikridge soils have a lithic contact at depths between 150 to 200 cm (60 to 80 in), lack aquic conditions, have a mollic epipedon, lack a calcic horizon, lack a cambic horizon, lack free carbonates, have a loamy-skeletal particle size class, and occur on similar landforms on ridges
Tikigak soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), lack aquic conditions, have a mollic epipedon, lack a calcic horizon, lack free carbonates, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on backslopes
Uluun soils lack a lithic contact within 200 cm (80 in), have aquic conditions starting within 25 to 50 cm (10 to 20 in), have a folistic epipedon, lack a calcic horizon, and occur on nose slopes and backslopes
Ungalik soils have a paralithic contact at depths between 150 to 200 cm (60 to 80 in), lack aquic conditions, have a mollic epipedon, lack a calcic horizon, and occur on head slopes and mountainflanks, center third
Urgiilik soils have a lithic contact at depths between 50 to 100 cm (20 to 40 in), lack aquic conditions, have an ochric epipedon, lack a calcic horizon, lack free carbonates, have a loamy-skeletal particle size class, and occur on side slopes and mountainflanks, center third
Uvluutit soils have a lithic contact at depths between 50 to 100 cm (20 to 440 in), lack aquic conditions, have an ochric epipedon, lack a calcic horizon, have a loamy-skeletal particle size class, and occur on backslopes
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: moderately high to high in the Oe, Bg, and Bkg horizons, high in the Bg' horizon
Permeability: moderate to moderately rapid in the Oe, Bg, and Bkg horizons, moderate to rapid in the Bg' horizon
Runoff: very high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use: wildlife habitat, recreation, and subsistence
Native vegetation: splendid feather moss, Richardson's willow, sheathed sedge, white spruce, resin birch, tomentypnum moss, reindeer lichen, aulacomnium moss, black crowberry, field horsetail, northern singlespike sedge, Schreber's big red stem moss, red fruit bearberry, netleaf willow, black spruce, bog blueberry, round sedge, entireleaf mountain-avens, marsh Labrador tea, lingonberry, dwarf scouringrush, bog rosemary
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 240, Nulato Hills-Southern Seward Peninsula Highlands. The series is of moderate extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Wasilla, Alaska
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nulato Hills - Continental Divide and Blackburn Hills Soil Survey, Alaska, 2024.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this profile include:
Particle-size control section: 45 to 120 cm (18 to 47 in)
Histic epipedon: 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in) (Oe horizon)
Reduced matrix: 20 to 124 cm (8 to 49 in) (Bg, Bkg, and Bg' horizons)
Redoximorphic concentrations: 20 to 124 cm (8 to 49 in) (Bg, Bkg, and Bg' horizons)
Free carbonates: 30 to 85 cm (12 to 34 in) (Bkg horizon)
Calcic horizon: 30 to 85 cm (12 to 34 in) (Bkg horizon)
Cambic horizon: 85 to 124 cm (34 to 49 in) (Bg' horizon)
Lithic contact: 124 to 149 cm (49 to 59 in) (2R horizon)
Aquic conditions: 0 to 124 cm (34 to 49 in) (Oe, Bg, Bkg, and Bg' horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA:
User pedon ID: 2023AK188202
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.